Lockable coin slide assembly

ABSTRACT

A lockable coin slide assembly which is mounted on a housing, and wherein the lock operating portion thereof is accessible from the exterior of the housing. The assembly includes a locking shaft engageable with a bracket supported within the housing upon rotation of the shaft by a key receivable in the lock operating portion of the assembly.

United States Patent 1 Greenwald et al.

LOCKABLE COIN SLIDE ASSEMBLY Inventors: Harry Greenwald, Whitestone;

Salvatore lglio, Richmond Hills, both of NY.

Assignee: Walter Kidde & Co., Inc., Clifton,

Filed: Dec. 5, 1973 Appl. No: 421,843

US. Cl. 194/97 R; 194/1 A Int. Cl."'........... G07F 9/00 Field of semi]T.. 151/1 R, 1 E, 1 A, 1 B, 194/92, 93, 97 R References Cited UNfl'ED STATES PATENTS 10/1932 Mills l94/DlG1 2 1/1942 Harris.............. l94/l E X Dec. 23, 1975 2,370,743 3/1945 Michelini 194/1 E X 2,948,379 8/1960 Hensley, Jr. 194/92 3,046,803 7/1962 Bowman 194/1 E X 3.455.425 7/1969 Douglas 194/1 R X Primary ExaminerR0bert B. Reeves Assistant ExaminerCharles A. Marmor Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Ryder, McAulay, Fields, Fisher & Goldstein [57] ABSTRACT A lockable coin slide assembly which is mounted on a housing, and wherein the lock operating portion thereof is accessible from the exterior of the housing. The assembly includes a locking shaft engageable with a bracket supported within the housing upon rotation of the shaft by a key receivable in the lock operating portion of the assembly.

2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures LOCKABLE COIN SLIDE ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the lnvention This invention relates generally to a lockable coin slide assembly and, more particularly, to a mechanism for locking the coin slide assembly on a housing wherein the lock operating portion of the mechanism is accessible from the exterior of the housing.

2. Description of the Prior Art Coin controlled units are usually installed on commercial appliances such as clothes washers, dryers, vending machines and the like. The coin control is enclosed within a housing mounted on the appliance or machine and the housing is usually provided with a locked coin drawer which prevents unauthorized access to a coin receptable located in spaced relation to the coin control. The coin control includes a coin slide reciprocally mounted in a guide track for projected and retracted movement. The coin slide is formed having a coin receiving portion whereby the presence of a coin therein is operative to allow projected movement of the coin slide to the operate position thereof. The coin is transmitted to the coin receptable upon projected movement of the coin slide. The inner end of the coin slide is provided with an operator for actuating the appliance or machine upon continued projected movement of the slide to the operate position thereof.

Heretofore, lock means have been proposed for locking the coin slide assembly on the housing. The lock means comprise an elongated bolt rotatably supported within the housing; said bolt having a threaded end adapted to engage with a complementary formed threaded opening in a face plate portion of the coin slide assembly. The arrangement is such that when the coin slide assembly is in its mounted position, the face plate portion thereof is in juxtaposition to an outer wall portion of the housing having an opening therein whereby the bolt end passes through said wall opening and threadedly engages with the face plate upon selective rotation of the bolt. Access to the locking bolt is provided by means of another opening in a side wall of the housing which is normally closed by a locking cover plate removably mounted on the housing.

Although the above noted locking arrangement operates satisfactorily, there are several disadvantages readily attributable thereto. For example, in order to remove the coin slide assembly from the housing it is necessary for the maintenance operator to first unlock and remove the plate covering the side wall opening to gain access to the locking bolt supported within the housing. However, once the cover plate is removed, access may also be had to the coin transfer mechanism of the assembly thereby pennitting tampering therewith for purposes of pilferage. For example, a defector or other obstruction may be inserted between the coin discharge opening of the coin slide and the coin receptacle thereby diverting passage of coins out of the normal discharge path and away from the coin receptacle to a readily accessible area within the housing where they are subject to pilferage when the assembly next requires service.

Furthermore, the location of the locking bolt within the housing is such that in removing the coin slide assembly, the maintenance operator has to use a special ratchet wrench to disengage the bolt from the face plate of the coin slide assembly. Consequently, removal and replacement of the assembly from the housing is burdensome without resorting to special tools.

The present invention distinguishes over the known lockable coin slide assemblies by rendering the lock operating portion accessible from the exterior of the housing. Accordingly, since removal and replacement of the coin slide assembly is effected without having to gain access to the interior of the housing, there is a substantial reduction in the likelihood of unauthorized tampering with the coin transfer mechanism of the assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The lockable coin slide assembly of the present invention includes a housing having an outer wall which is formed having an opening therein. A coin slide assembly is mounted on the housing with the coin slide component disposed for projected and retracted movement into the housing through the outer wall opening thereof. The coin slide assembly further includes a face plate engageable with the outer wall of the housing in the mounted position thereof. The face plate is formed having an opening which is located adjacent to the opening in the outer wall of the housing when the face plate is in its mounted position. A lock assembly is mounted through the opening formed in the face plate and includes a locking shaft extending into the housing through the outer wall opening thereof. The lock assembly further includes a lock operating portion which is accessible from the exterior of the housing. The operation of the lock assembly is such that the locking shaft is selectively rotatable by a key received in the lock operating portion of the assembly. A bracket member is supported within the housing and is located to cooperate with the lock assembly in locking the coin slide assembly on the housing. In this regard, the bracket and locking shaft are formed having complementary engaging means for engaging the shaft with the bracket upon rotation of the key in the lock operating portion of the lock assembly.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved lockable coin slide assembly which is mounted on a housing and wherein the lock operating portion thereof is accessible from the exterior of said housing.

Another object and feature of the present invention is to provide an improved lockable coin slide assembly which can be quickly and conveniently removed from a housing.

A further object, feature and advantage of the present invention is to provide an improved lockable coin slide assembly which can be removed from a housing without having to gain access to the interior thereof thereby substantially reducing the likelihood of unauthorized tampering with the coin transfer mechanism located within the housing.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more appar ent from a consideration of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section and with parts broken away, of a lockable coin slide assembly constructed in accordance with the teachings of the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a side elevationalview, partly in section and with parts broken away, of the lockable coin slide assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the assembly illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view, with parts broken away, of the associated elements of the lockable coin slide assembly; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIGS. 1 and 2 combining the teachings of the prior art with the lockable coin slide assembly of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, numeral 10 represents an apparatus illustrating a lockable coin slide assembly 12 mounted on a housing 14 which is adapted to be installed on a commercial appliance, such as a clothes washer, dryer, vending machine or the like (not shown). Aside from the heretofore known locking arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1, and the structurally distinguishable locking arrangement embodied in FIGS. 2-6 for locking the assembly 12 to housing 14, the remaining structure of the respective apparatus of FIG. I and FIGS. 2-6 are similar and are thus identified by the same reference numerals.

Housing 14 includes front and side walls 16 and 18, respectively. Front wall 16 is formed having an enlarged opening 20 located in an upper surface portion of the wall, with the lower edge of said opening 20 defining a pair of laterally spaced support edge surfaces 21 separated by an edge surface 22 disposed therebetween. Front wall 20 is formed further having a plurality of laterally spaced smaller openings 23 located in a surface portion of wall 16 above opening 20. The said openings and support edge surfaces serve to support and mount assembly 12 relative to housing 14 in the manner hereinafter described.

Assembly 12 includes a guide track 24 reciprocally supporting a coin slide 26 for projected and retracted movement thereof. Assembly 12 further includes a mounting face plate 28 which is adapted to be secured to front wall 16 for supporting assembly 12 on the housing. In this regard, as illustrated more fully in FIGS. 4 and 5, face plate 28 is formed having pairs of laterally spaced lugs 30 and 31, respectively, projecting outwardly from the rear surface thereof. Plate 28 further includes a threaded opening 32 disposed between the spaced lugs 30. The arrangement is such that when assembly 12 is mounted on housing 14, an end portion of guide track 24 passes through front wall opening 20 thereby locating face plate 28 in juxtaposition to front wall 16. It will be appreciated that the support edge surfaces 21 and a pair of the front wall openings 23 are suitably sized and located to receive the projecting lugs 31 and 30, respectively, when the guide track 24 is in its fully inserted position. The interengagement of lugs 30 and 31 with the pair of spaced openings 23 and the support edge surfaces 21, respectively, facilitates the mounting of face plate 28 to wall 16, and further serves to locate threaded opening 32 in alignment with another one of the front wall openings 23 for receiving a locking bolt hereinafter described in connection with the known locking arrangement embodied in FIG. 1.

Coin slide 26 includes a coin receiving portion 33 for conventionally transmitting a coin (not shown) to a coin receptacle positioned within housing 14. The operation is such that the presence of a coin in coin receiving portion 33 permits the coin slide 26 to be advanced for projected movement within housing 14 whereby the inner end of slide 26 actuates the appliance in a conventional manner. Upon projected movement of coin slide 26, the coin is discharged through an opening in the undersurface of guide track 24 and is directed by a funnel member 34 supported within housing 14 to a coin receptacle 36 located therebelow.

Housing 14 includes partition means represented generally by number 38 for enclosing, in part, coin receptacle 36 and for supporting funnel member 34. Partition 38 includes a vertical baffle 39 projecting upwardly from the bottom wall of housing 14, and a horizontal baffle 40 having an upturned end connected to the rear surface of front wall 16 and the other end connected to vertical baffle 39. The upturned end has a central portion of suitable shape overlying the lower central portion of wall opening 20 defined by edge surface 22. Horizontal baffle 40 is formed having an opening 42 through which passes the discharge end of funnel 34. The arrangement is such that coins discharging from coin slide 26 pass through an opening in the undersurface of guide track 24 and fall into the mouth portion of funnel 34, wherein the coins then pass through the discharge end of funnel 34 and fall into the coin receptacle 36.

It will be appreciated that for purposes of security, coin receptacle 36 is enclosed within the area bounded by partition means 38 and the front wall 16 of housing 14. Receptacle 36 is inserted within housing 14 through an opening in the front wall 16 spaced below front wall opening 20. After insertion of receptacle 36, a front cover plate 44 closes the access opening in front wall 16; said cover plate 44 including lock means 46 for locking cover 44 to front wall 16 in conventional manner. Furthermore, in order to service the portions of coin slide assembly 12 projecting internally of housing 14, the side wall 18 of the housing is also formed having an access opening which is normally closed by a cover plate 48 having lock means 50 for locking cover 48 to side wall 18 in conventional manner.

Referring to FIG. I, there is illustrated the heretofore known arrangement for locking coin slide assembly 12 to housing 14. In this regard, the known locking arrangement includes in elongated bolt 52 supported within housing 14 by a bracket 54, said bolt having a threaded end which passes through an opening in bracket 54 and is adapted to engage and be received within threaded opening 32 of face plate 28. The lock ing procedure requires that the maintenance operator first remove cover 48 to gain access to the interior of housing 14 whereupon a special ratchet wrench is necessary to selectively rotate bolt 52 in a given direction for engaging the threaded end thereof within threaded opening 32 of face plate 28. Rotation of bolt 52 in said direction draws face plate 28 into tight abutting contact with front wall 16.

At such time as it becomes necessary to remove coin slide assembly 12 from housing 14, the maintenance operator must again first remove cover 48 and use the special tool to rotate bolt 52 in an opposite direction to disengage the threaded end thereof from opening 32 of face plate 28. Thereafter, coin slide assembly 12 may be readily removed from housing 14 for service or replacement with another such assembly. It will be appreciated, however, that once the coin slide assembly is removed from the housing, it is possible for the maintenance operator to tamper with the coin transfer mechanism for purposes of pilferage. For example, a shield or deflector can be positioned over the mouth portion of funnel member 34 so that coins thereafter discharging from coin slide 26 and passing through the opening in the undersurface of guide track 24 will be deflected to the bottom of housing 14 rather than into the coin receptacle 36. It will be further appreciated that such deflected coins accumulating on the bottom wall surface of housing 14 are readily accessible to the maintenance operator for his own personal gain when he next services the apparatus.

FIGS. 2 through 5 illustrate the improved novel locking arrangement of the present invention which replaces bolt 52 for locking coin slide assembly 12 to housing 14. Thus, face plate 28 is formed having an opening 56 located in a surface portion spaced below guide track 24. The location of opening 56 relative to front wall opening is such as to locate said opening 56 adjacent to the lower central portion of wall opening 20 defined by edge surface 22.

The novel lock means herein is referred to generally by numeral 58 and includes a locking shaft 60 and a lock operating portion 62 operatively connected to selectively rotate shaft 60 by means of a key 64 received therein. Lock operating portion 62 is suitably dimensioned to be greater than the dimensions of face plate opening 56. Accordingly, it is now apparent that locking shaft 60 is adapted to pass through face plate opening 56, from the outer surface thereof, whereby lock operating portion 62 is rendered accessible from the exterior of housing 14. Upon insertion of lock 58 within face plate opening 56, the locking shaft 60 extends through the portion of front wall opening 20 defined by edge surface 22 and projects into the interior of housing 14. The end of locking shaft 60 is threaded and interengages with a bracket 66 supported within housing 14 upon rotation of shaft 60 by means of key 64.

Bracket 66 includes a base portion 68 mounted on horizontal baffle 40 of partition means 38 by means of screw 70, or the like. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, it should be noted that the screw head 72 is located on the undersurface of baffle 40 within the area enclosing the coin receptacle 36 so that access to the screw is permitted only after receptacle 36 is first removed from housing 14. It will therefore be appreciated that only those persons possessing keys to operate lock means 46 are capable of removing receptacle 36 from the housing thereby gaining access to screw head 72. Further more, even if access to the interior of housing 14 is gained by means of the access opening in side wall 18, it is still not possible to tamper with screw head 72 in view of the partition means 38 which blocks access thereto.

Bracket 66 further includes an upstanding rear leg portion 74 and a pair of laterally spaced upstanding side leg portions 75, 75. Leg portion 74 is spaced from front wall 16 and is formed having a threaded opening therein. The arrangement is such that in inserting lock means 58 in position, the threaded end of locking shaft 60 is aligned with the threaded opening in bracket leg 74 to define complimentary formed engaging means for engaging shaft 60 with bracket 66. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. side leg portions 75, 75 are each connected to a separate side of rear leg portion 74 and project forwardly in substantially abutting relation to the rear surface of front wall 16. In this regard, the leg portions 75, engage the forwardly upturned end of horizontal baffle 40 which, in turn, is fixedly connected to front wall 16. Thus, as locking shaft 60 engages with rear leg portion 74, any tendency for said leg portion to be lifted or broken away from horizontal baffle 40 will be curtailed by the side leg portions 75, 75 which are in contact with the upturned end of horizontal baffle 40. The leg portions 75, 75 thus provide strength to bracket 66 in preventing rear leg portion 74 from becoming distorted or being pivoted clockwise about screw 72, as viewed in FIG. 2, upon engagement of lock means 58 with bracket 66. It will thus be appreciated that selective rotation of locking shaft 60 by means of key 64 serves to draw face plate 28 into tight abutting contact with front wall 16, and removably lock coin slide assembly 12 to housing 14.

It is now apparent that the present invention provides a quick and efficient means for locking the coin slide assembly 12 on housing 14 without having to gain access to the interior of the housing, and without the need of any special tools. All that is required is a suitable key which is inserted in lock operating portion 62 located on an exterior portion of housing 14. Furthermore, in view of the fact that the coin slide assembly can be removed from the housing without having to remove the side cover plate 48, there is less likelihood of anyone tampering with the coin transfer mechanism located within the housing.

Even where cover plate 48 is removed from the housing, the partition means 38 and funnel member 34 define blocking means for preventing access to locking shaft 60 through the access opening in side wall 18. In this regard, bracket 66 is spaced a considerable distance from the side wall opening and is positioned between funnel member 34 and front wall 16 thereby precluding any likelihood of unauthorized tampering with locking shaft 60. In addition, as indicated above, screw head 72 is accessible only within the area enclosing coin receptacle 36 so as to preclude unauthorized tampering with bracket 66 even after lock means 58 is removed from the coin slide assembly.

If desired, a screw 76 may be fastened within threaded opening 32 of face plate 28 to merely close said opening when it is no longer being used in cooperation with locking bolt 52. Screw 76 would be located with the head portion thereof on the rear surface of face plate 28 so as not to be accessible when the coin slide assembly 12 is mounted on housing 14.

FIG. 6 illustrates an apparatus which combines the locking features of the present invention with that heretofore known in the prior art to provide double locking protection. For example, coin slide assembly 12 may be mounted on housing 14 by means of the interengaging relation of both the locking bolt 52 engaging with face plate 28, and the locking shaft engaging with bracket 66. It will be further appreciated that different keys are required to operate lock means 46, 50 and 58, and that the respective keys would only be in the possession of those persons having need to operate said locks.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail, it will be readily understood and appreciated that numerous omissions, changes and additions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

We claim:

l. A lockable coin slide assembly comprising:

a. a housing including an outer wall having an open ing therein;

b. a coin slide mechanism mounted on said housing;

c. said mechanism including a coin slide reciprocally mounted for projected and retracted movement through said outer wall opening;

d. said mechanism further including a face plate engageable with said wall in the mounted position thereof and covering said outer wall opening, said plate having an opening therein;

e. lock means mounted through said plate opening, said lock means including a locking shaft extending through said outer wall opening, and a locking shaft operating means accessible from the exterior of said housing and actuable by a key;

f. said locking shaft being selectively rotatable by said key received in said locking shaft operating means;

g. a bracket supported within said housing;

h. said bracket comprising an upstanding rear leg portion and a pair of upstanding side leg portions, said rear leg portion being spaced from said outer wall, and each one of said pair of side leg portions being connected to a separate side of said rear leg 8 portion and projecting forwardly in substantially abutting relation to said outer wall;

i. selectively operable complementary formed engaging means on the rear leg portion of said bracket and on said shaft for engaging said shaft with said bracket upon rotation by said key for locking said mechanism on said housing;

j. said housing including a second wall having an access opening for servicing said coin slide mechanism; and

k. blocking means positioned between said lock means and service wall for preventing access to said locking shaft through said service opening.

2. A lockable coin slide assembly as recited in claim I, wherein said blocking means comprises partition means within said housing defining an enclosed coin box chamber, and funnel means having a mouth por tion and a discharge end supported within said housing; said coin slide having a coin discharge opening; said funnel means being positioned with the mouth portion adjacent said coin slide to receive discharged coins and with the funnel discharge end communicating with said coin box chamber; said bracket being mounted on said partition means and positioned between said funnel means and said outer wall. 

1. A lockable coin slide assembly comprising: a. a housing including an outer wall having an opening therein; b. a coin slide mechanism mounted on said housing; c. said mechanism including a coin slide reciprocally mounted for projected and retracted movement through said outer wall opening; d. said mechanism further including a face plate engageable with said wall in the mounted position thereof and covering said outer wall opening, said plate having an opening therein; e. lock means mounted through said plate opening, said lock means including a locking shaft extending through said outer wall opening, and a locking shaft operating means accessible from the exterior of said housing and actuable by a key; f. said locking shaft being selectively rotatable by said key received in said locking shaft operating means; g. a bracket supported within said housing; h. said bracket comprising an upstanding rear leg portion and a pair of upstanding side leg portions, said rear leg portion being spaced from said outer wall, and each one of said pair of side leg portions being connected to a separate side of said rear leg portion and projecting forwardly in substantially abutting relation to said outer wall; i. selectively operable complementary formed engaging means on the rear leg portion of said bracket and on said shaft for engaging said shaft with said bracket upon rotation by said key for locking said mechanism on said housing; j. said housing including a second wall having an access opening for servicing said coin slide mechanism; and k. blocking means positioned between said lock means and service wall for preventing access to said locking shaft through said service opening.
 2. A lockable coin slide assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein said blocking means comprises partition means within said housing defining an enclosed coin box chamber, and funnel means having a mouth portion and a discharge end supported within said housing; said coin slide having a coin discharge opening; said funnel means being positioned with the mouth portion adjacent said coin slide to receive discharged coins and with the funnel discharge end communicating with said coin box chamber; said bracket being mounted on said partition means and positioned between said funnel means and said outer wall. 